


Rumor Has It

by Queens31298



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Denial, Drinks, F/M, Fluff, Rumors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29222772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queens31298/pseuds/Queens31298
Summary: He heard the rumors. He didn’t pay much attention to it anyway, not that he cared either, but when the mention of Charlotte’s name came out of some unknown commoner or someone of a higher class something inside Yami flared.
Relationships: Charlotte Roselei/Yami Sukehiro
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	Rumor Has It

He heard the rumors. He didn’t pay much attention to it anyway, not that he cared either, but when the mention of Charlotte’s name came out of some unknown commoner or someone of a higher class something inside Yami flared. Things between him and Charlotte were complicated at best. They didn’t have that many interactions, however, when he did see her, she was always cold and bitter like an ice queen or runaway in a different direction, face red. Honestly, he didn’t know what the hell her problem was with him or any other guy. 

He didn't know how it started, just that it was either Charlotte was drinking till late, arrived at her brigade late, processing paperwork late. Things like that didn’t concern him as much. Yami didn’t believe it was true. Hell, it was quite the opposite. Charlotte was always on time, didn’t handle liquor too well, and definitely turned her paperwork in on time. Yami respected her as a Magic Knight Captain and as an equal, possible friend. Imagine to his surprise when one of her brigade members showed up at his brigade.

It was Sol. 

By now, Yami knew something was wrong with Charlotte, though he refused to still believe it. The rest of his members weren’t there, off training somewhere in the woods or shopping in the Clover Kingdom. It was quiet for once. He motioned his head to the side as she stepped in. Sol didn’t want to be there, let alone ask Yami for help. She had no choice, at this point. Yami lit a cigarette, inhaling the disease as it entered his lungs. 

“What is it, kid?” He said with barely interest. 

“You know the rumors? About Charlotte?” She quietly said, avoiding his eyes. 

Yami sighed, blew a streak of smoke from the corner of his mouth, and realized that was the first time he heard Sol say her name. It was always “Sis.” Never captain. He knew then it was a serious matter. What could he possibly do to help that Sol couldn’t? 

“I ignore most of them.” He shrugged. She finally looked at him with a curious gaze. 

“They’re true.” She roughly stated, eyes almost watering. “You should hear what they say, the people I mean. She’s been going to mixers, drinking, and coming home late.” 

If Yami seemed stunned he sure as hell didn’t let it show. It was impossible to read him. Yet, he was shocked to the core. Charlotte was drinking and coming home late? She could barely handle her liquor, let alone want any man to go near her. Just what in the hell was she thinking? She did things on her own accord, but she was also the person who wouldn’t want to tarnish her name. 

He felt a headache coming on. 

“And why did you come here?” He suddenly asked. Sol felt her eye twitch in annoyance. 

“I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to, but she’ll only listen to you.” Sol steadily said inching closer to him so as to make a point. 

Honestly, Yami wanted to laugh. No, he cackled, hysterically. His booming voice filled the silence of his brigade and wiped away the tears from his eyes. That was rich. Charlotte would listen to him? Like she would listen to any man. She’s already stated she wanted nothing to do with him. 

“She won’t listen to me, kid.” He nonchalantly answered. She rolled her eyes. 

“You really are dense.” She slapped a hand to her face, mumbling. Yami raised another brow. 

“Believe it or not, but Charlotte cares about you and I don’t like this any more than you do. If she’s going to listen to anyone it will be you.” Sol said in frustration, nose flared in anger. 

He stayed silent for a minute before he gave her an answer. He contemplated meddling in her situation, but at the same time, he was more irritated that it bothered him. Did she really care for him? The more he thought about it the less it seemed true. All the times they’ve run into each other, she’s given him the cold shoulder, became embarrassed, and disappeared, yet most of those looks didn’t seem to reach her eyes. If anything, Charlotte was confusing as hell. 

He sighed again. 

“All right.” He said in a low tone. “I’ll see what I can do.” He took another long drag of his cigarette. 

He was going to need a new pack by the end of the day. 

*

He didn’t go to her. In fact, he didn’t do much of anything, despite telling Sol he would find something out. As of right now, he needed time for himself to sort some things out, like how in the hell he came into this predicament. Yami spent the better part of the day in a bar, taking drink after drink. He didn’t even know how long it had been, especially since he’s had five empty beer mugs sitting on the counter. He was still working on the one he had in his hand now. He stared at his reflection and frowned. 

Yami wanted to get his thoughts in order, but the drinks weren’t helping. Charlotte was also on his mind, actually, she was on his mind the moment those rumors started spreading. He wanted to do something about it, like hunt down the pricks that kept tarnishing her name and on the other hand he didn’t do a damn thing. He didn’t meddle with it, didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of Charlotte’s rage. She already disliked him, at least that’s what he thought. Sol had gone and changed it. 

Yami felt the twitch in his brow when he couldn’t find a reason for any of this happening, so he inhaled the rest of his drink and asked for another one. He always teased her, watched her face heat up then on the offside, if he got lucky, she’d tease him. Or, at least that’s what he thought. Still, there was a part of him that actually liked it. To him, it was nice to see her smile every now and then since she always seemed so closed off. 

The bell above the bar door jingled and Yami didn’t bother to turn around to know who it was. He took a seat right next to Yami, already ordering a drink and messing with him. It was Jack. Yami was hoping to be here by himself, but as he took a look at the time, he sighed. It was late and this was the time he normally came strolling in. 

“You’ve been here awhile.” Jack mentioned as he caught sight of the six beer mugs on the counter. Yami only shrugged.

“Working out some kinks.” 

“You missed the captains meeting.” 

“That was today?” 

“So did Charlotte.”

“What?” That seemed to get his attention. “What the hell does she think she’s doing?”

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Jack asked in mild annoyance. 

“If you mean the rumors then yeah, I know.” He drank half the beer. “What do you know, anyway?” 

“Aren’t you going to do something about it?” Jack pointed out like it was the obvious thing to do. Yami slammed his mug down on the counter. 

“What is it with everyone asking me to fix her damn problem?” He mumbled loud enough for Jack to hear him. 

Yami waved the bartender down again, another drink in hand and felt the alcohol poison his throat. He was getting tired of people telling him left and right to go fix this problem and then a thought crossed his mind. Why did Jack know? Yami drank about half the mug before he turned his attention back to him. 

“How do you know?” Yami curiously asked. Jack just snickered. 

“It’s obvious.” Jack waved at the bartender. “The question is, how do you not?” 

“I ignored it.” He shrugged his shoulders. 

“She comes in here, ya’ know.” Jack said as he took a long sip of his drink. Yami just stared at him. 

Yami looked at the clock on the wall for a quick second. It was already late. How late does she come in? He looked away from the time, sitting there with his lingering thoughts. He lit a cigarette, inhaling the fumes. He wasn’t nearly drunk enough to talk to Charlotte, let alone conjure up the right words. He wanted to find the right things to say, however, he knew if he tried it wouldn’t happen. If anything, he’d be infuriated with her. 

He placed his head in his hands, feeling an oncoming headache, but it wasn’t from the drinks. He ran his hands through his hair and down his face, letting out a long sigh. 

“Anything else I should know?” Jack lightly chuckled as he finished his drink. Yami raised a questioning brow. 

“Not my place to say anything.” 

Jack didn’t say anything more and left Yami. He sat at the bar with a confused expression on his face. He was really getting sick and tired of everyone giving him the runaround. He just wanted a straight answer. First, it was Sol, now it was Jack, and he had a feeling if Julius knew about this he’d give him hell too. He felt his brow twitch in irritation. He sank in his seat, placing a hand under the side of his jaw as he stared at the wall ahead of him, thoughts rolling around his head. Thinking wasn’t doing him any good, yet the images of Charlotte wouldn’t stop invading his mind. 

The bell above the bar jingled, breaking him away from whatever it was that bothered his mental stability. He turned to see Charlotte stepping in and locked eyes with her for a split second. Yami hadn’t meant to turn or catch her attention. Charlotte kept her gaze on him for a few seconds and deeply sighed. She took the next seat by him. 

It was quiet, at first. Charlotte was sure he knew of the rumors, never really paying much attention to it anyways or he never knew. He never once confronted her. Never asked. She didn’t blame him. Any time she tried to express anything to him she’d run in the other direction, her face would heat up, and she couldn’t take the constant beating in her chest. It was too much. Suffocating. She also didn’t care anymore. She wasn’t sure when this happened. Yami, on the other hand, was itching to say something. She noticed his leg was bobbing up and down and his eyes kept falling on her. 

She heaved another sigh. 

Yami tried to keep his gaze elsewhere, the floor, the wall, the clock, the empty beer mugs sitting on the counter. Still, he kept going right back to her. He took her in. Charlotte was exhausted, shoulders slumped, and eyes red. Was she crying? Or was it a lack of sleep? Yami frowned just a bit. He was expecting her to yell at him for something he had yet done, but she just sat there with this depressed look in her blue eyes. It was almost daunting. 

Yami let her stay like that for a few seconds, finishing the last of his beer and lighting up one more cigarette. He wanted to say something. His tongue was caught on the roof of his mouth. Sol’s words echoed in his brain,  _ she’ll only listen to you _ . Honestly, what was he supposed to do? He wanted to pull the hair out of his head and scream. He slammed the side of his fist on the counter, mumbling something incoherent under his breath then realized everyone’s eyes fell on him, even Charlotte. 

“You want a drink?” Yami finally asked. She turned to face him and blinked. 

“Just one.” He flagged the bartender for the final time.

They spoke just once the entirety of the time they sat at the bar, waiting till time ran out or at least until they were asked to leave. It was once again quiet, unnerving. It was the two of them. Everyone else had left. That was Yami’s key to leave, so he set his cigarette on the ashtray and bid her goodbye. Charlotte bit her lip, knowing exactly why he showed up, but never questioned her. She felt more annoyed that he didn’t tease her. What really drove her to the edge was that he didn’t call her out on her shit. And he was just going to walk away?  _ Damn it _ . She thought. 

“Don’t.” She barely said above a whisper as she caught onto her wrist.

“Mind tell me what this is all about?” Yami said as he took his seat once more, his back against the counter. 

“You know already, don’t you?” Charlotte couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Yeah.” He took a sideways glance at her. “One of your squad members came to my hideout. Sol, was it?” 

That’s when Charlotte finally looked at him in shock. 

“She went to your place?” She said more to herself than to Yami. He nodded his head. 

“She said you’d only listen to me. I find that hard to believe.” He steadily said. Charlotte hardened her eyes. “You always go off running away from me. You fall. I catch you. You run. I drop by to see how you’re doing and you jump out the damn window. Honestly, I don’t have a clue what the hell you’re thinking about.” 

Charlotte sat there just staring at him with wide eyes, shock enveloping her. She never took into consideration into how he might feel about her. He was right. Any time he appeared, she ran away, letting her emotions blind her. She curled her hand into a ball, nails digging into her palm. Her head hurt. Not from the alcohol, but with how stupid she’s been acting. She went on a rampage, trying to ease the pain because it hurt too much. It was like something had wrapped around her and it was suffocating every inch of her life, directing her in where to go and what to do. 

Charlotte caused a lot of pain to herself and to the people around her, especially Sol. She owed her an apology. She uncurled her hand as she took in a deep breath, feeling a bit of a weight off her shoulders, still the panging in her heart didn’t settle once. 

“I’m a real idiot, aren’t I?” Charlotte turned away from his, a small smile falling on her lips. He raised a brow. 

“Yeah, you definitely are.” He lightly chuckled. “If I remember correctly, I thought I told you to stop doing things by yourself and ask for help.” 

“I guess I should stop.” Charlotte muttered loud enough for him to hear. He raised another brow. 

“If I knew it was this easy to make you stop, I would’ve done this the moment I heard the rumors, but didn’t believe them. Though, I have to ask, why me, Charlotte?”

Charlotte instantly felt her face heat up, hands curling once more and swallowed the lump in her throat. She wanted to so desperately run away and felt the twitch in her legs, but Yami had been here all night, drinking, waiting for her, or at least that’s what she told herself. Whatever the hell it was, Charlotte didn’t know if she was ready to tell him. She scratched the back of her neck, lightly chuckling. 

“I guess it’s because I like you.” Charlotte hadn’t meant to say that. 

Her face went red. 

Yami cackled. 

“Yeah, when hell freezes over.” 

“Yeah.” She mumbled. “I should go.” 

Yami watched her leave without so much as saying goodbye. He looked up at the ceiling and let out a breath. What the hell was that about? She was confusing the hell out of him. He shrugged it off, slapped a few coins on the counter before he walked out. Then a sudden hand fell on his shoulder. It was the bartender. He looked down at the gloved hand. He had a strong grip and Yami could feel the twitch in his eye. 

“May I make a suggestion?” He barely nodded. “You should go follow her.” 

“Why would I do that?” He slapped his hand away as he headed for the door. He never got an answer back. The bartender was gone. 

It was cool outside and the moon was cracked tonight. He lit another cigarette as he started walking down the street, hands resting in his pockets. Charlotte liked him? He couldn’t put it past him. He admitted she was beautiful, even with the armor, yet there was something stunningly striking about that beauty. He wondered if that had to do with her bipolar reactions toward him. Part of him found it funny. The other part was questionable. He couldn't get that image of her out of his head. 

Charlotte was perched up on the counter with him, hand curled in frustration along with that sad look in her blue eyes. She was beautiful, despite dealing with the dilemma she’s found herself in. It was as if she was begging for him or someone to stop her, say something to keep her grounded. How long did it last? Days? Weeks? Months? Definitely not years. He knew she was hurting. He was trying to find a way to lighten the blow. He thought of nothing. It seemed like he caused her more pain. 

He quickly replayed the events in his mind, each one becoming more clear. The corners of his lips turned up. He respected Charlotte, but he’d been damned if he didn’t hear her side of the story. All the times he teased her was to get her to lighten up. She was just fragile about her emotions. It was a hunch. He knew there was something that bothered him whenever she came around. He wasn’t that much further from the town when he saw Charlotte sitting on a bench staring at the sky. 

“Mind If I join you?” He steadily said. She didn’t answer and took a seat. 

“Shouldn’t you be going home?” 

“Charlotte?” He ignored her question. She gave him her full attention and as usual she couldn’t read his eyes. “Don’t take what I say to heart.”

“What are you going on about?” She sighed. There was a ghost of a smile knowing her icy demeanor was coming back. 

“Look, I don’t know what you drove to do the things you did. What I do know is that you’re someone I respect, a magic knight captain at that. You need to apologize to your brigade members, especially Sol. She’s worried about you. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was concerned as well. Hell, I still don’t.”

“Yami.” She tried to stop him. He kept talking over her. 

“I also know that I really hated anyone looking down on you. Your reputation is important to you, so I don’t know why you would throw that away. When those rumors started I did my best to ignore them, but something inside me really pissed me off. And I realized you’re such an idiot.” Charlotte sat there blinking her eyes several times, taking a few seconds to process what he had said. If anything, she was just as confused as she was when this shit started. “I like you too, Charlotte.”

“Are you drunk?” That was all she managed to say. Yami chuckled heartily. 

“After all that, that’s what you ask.” Yami gently grabbed her chin and tilted her head to the side. “Geez, do I really have to show you?” 

The softness in his black orbs, the gentle caress on her face, and the alarming question threw her off. Her heart slammed against her chest, her breathing was shallow, and her face was flushed in red. She didn’t have any reaction time and before she could do anything, his ashen lips fell against her soft ones. 

“Yami, what the hell? What if someone sees?” Charlotte said as she pushed him away. He laughed and raised a brow in question. 

“You’re worried about being seen now after all you’ve done?” 

“Sorry. That’s not what I meant.” She looked down at her lap, fumbling with her fingers. Yami whispered something in her ear. 

“Are you coming?” He asked with a hand stretched out. 

Was he serious about that right now?

Charlotte took his hand.

Her face turned a much darker red that night. 

  
  



End file.
